diff --git a/pack-objects.c b/pack-objects.c
index ccfaa5f609..d7ba938af7 100644
--- a/pack-objects.c
+++ b/pack-objects.c
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ static int nr_objects = 0, nr_alloc = 0, nr_result = 0;
 static const char *base_name;
 static unsigned char pack_file_sha1[20];
 static int progress = 1;
-static volatile int progress_update = 0;
+static volatile sig_atomic_t progress_update = 0;
 
 /*
  * The object names in objects array are hashed with this hashtable,
@@ -879,7 +879,6 @@ static int try_delta(struct unpacked *cur, struct unpacked *old, unsigned max_de
 
 static void progress_interval(int signum)
 {
-	signal(SIGALRM, progress_interval);
 	progress_update = 1;
 }
 
@@ -1025,6 +1024,23 @@ static int reuse_cached_pack(unsigned char *sha1, int pack_to_stdout)
 	return 1;
 }
 
+static void setup_progress_signal(void)
+{
+	struct sigaction sa;
+	struct itimerval v;
+
+	memset(&sa, 0, sizeof(sa));
+	sa.sa_handler = progress_interval;
+	sigemptyset(&sa.sa_mask);
+	sa.sa_flags = SA_RESTART;
+	sigaction(SIGALRM, &sa, NULL);
+
+	v.it_interval.tv_sec = 1;
+	v.it_interval.tv_usec = 0;
+	v.it_value = v.it_interval;
+	setitimer(ITIMER_REAL, &v, NULL);
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	SHA_CTX ctx;
@@ -1090,18 +1106,24 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	prepare_packed_git();
 
 	if (progress) {
-		struct itimerval v;
-		v.it_interval.tv_sec = 1;
-		v.it_interval.tv_usec = 0;
-		v.it_value = v.it_interval;
-		signal(SIGALRM, progress_interval);
-		setitimer(ITIMER_REAL, &v, NULL);
 		fprintf(stderr, "Generating pack...\n");
+		setup_progress_signal();
 	}
 
-	while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin) != NULL) {
+	for (;;) {
 		unsigned char sha1[20];
 
+		if (!fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin)) {
+			if (feof(stdin))
+				break;
+			if (!ferror(stdin))
+				die("fgets returned NULL, not EOF, not error!");
+			if (errno != EINTR)
+				die("fgets: %s", strerror(errno));
+			clearerr(stdin);
+			continue;
+		}
+
 		if (line[0] == '-') {
 			if (get_sha1_hex(line+1, sha1))
 				die("expected edge sha1, got garbage:\n %s",
diff --git a/read-tree.c b/read-tree.c
index eaff444196..4422dbf424 100644
--- a/read-tree.c
+++ b/read-tree.c
@@ -273,10 +273,26 @@ static void unlink_entry(char *name)
 
 static void progress_interval(int signum)
 {
-	signal(SIGALRM, progress_interval);
 	progress_update = 1;
 }
 
+static void setup_progress_signal(void)
+{
+	struct sigaction sa;
+	struct itimerval v;
+
+	memset(&sa, 0, sizeof(sa));
+	sa.sa_handler = progress_interval;
+	sigemptyset(&sa.sa_mask);
+	sa.sa_flags = SA_RESTART;
+	sigaction(SIGALRM, &sa, NULL);
+
+	v.it_interval.tv_sec = 1;
+	v.it_interval.tv_usec = 0;
+	v.it_value = v.it_interval;
+	setitimer(ITIMER_REAL, &v, NULL);
+}
+
 static void check_updates(struct cache_entry **src, int nr)
 {
 	static struct checkout state = {
@@ -289,8 +305,6 @@ static void check_updates(struct cache_entry **src, int nr)
 	unsigned last_percent = 200, cnt = 0, total = 0;
 
 	if (update && verbose_update) {
-		struct itimerval v;
-
 		for (total = cnt = 0; cnt < nr; cnt++) {
 			struct cache_entry *ce = src[cnt];
 			if (!ce->ce_mode || ce->ce_flags & mask)
@@ -302,12 +316,8 @@ static void check_updates(struct cache_entry **src, int nr)
 			total = 0;
 
 		if (total) {
-			v.it_interval.tv_sec = 1;
-			v.it_interval.tv_usec = 0;
-			v.it_value = v.it_interval;
-			signal(SIGALRM, progress_interval);
-			setitimer(ITIMER_REAL, &v, NULL);
 			fprintf(stderr, "Checking files out...\n");
+			setup_progress_signal();
 			progress_update = 1;
 		}
 		cnt = 0;
@@ -341,8 +351,8 @@ static void check_updates(struct cache_entry **src, int nr)
 		}
 	}
 	if (total) {
-		fputc('\n', stderr);
 		signal(SIGALRM, SIG_IGN);
+		fputc('\n', stderr);
 	}
 }